Category Archive for ‘Blog 101 Book’ at Blog 101

Archive for the 'Blog 101 Book' Category

How to Make a Blog in 5 Easy Steps

Published on November 19, 2008 in Blog 101 Book. 1 Comment

Making a blog is far easier than most people think. It doesn’t require programming skills, a big budget or long lead times. In fact, I set up this blog in under ten minutes for FREE!

How To Make a Blog in 5 Easy Steps:

Choose a blog platform

You have two choices when it comes to setting up your blog. Your decision on which platform to use will depend on how you intend to use your blog. For a corporate blog, money-making blogs, blogs requiring a customized look, and blogs with frequent posts and lots of photos or music files server-hosted blog is the best option. If you are starting a simple blog to share your thoughts then I suggest going with a hosted blog solution such Wordpress.com or Blogger.com.

Choose a Domain Name

The Domain is the address where your blog will be found online. If you have a traditional website for your business, you can instruct your webmaster to add a page to your navigation bar that says “BLOG” and then give your blog a domain like blog.companyname.com or companyname.com/blog. If you want to make your blog a separate site all together, Go Daddy is a good place to find out if the domain name you want is available. However, be aware that if you do not buy the name as soon as you see it is available, there is a chance that Go Daddy will purchase it because you just let them know the name is of interest by searching for it. They will give you a few days to buy it before they snatch it up.

Choose a Blog Name

There are no rules about how to name your blog – the most important thing is to keep it simple and easy to find. If at all possible keep the name of your blog the same as or close to your domain name, so it is easier for people to find you.

Many music bloggers have taken to naming their sites after their favorite song lyrics or titles. The name of your blog can be as simple as Company Name Blog, or something obscure like Boing Boing or 3Hive. It is in your best interest to give it a name that reflects your branding or message in some way. Having a catchy name is great, if you have the audience to support it. My first blog was simply – www.kyrareed.com. I use it to discuss changes in the music world as it is affected by new technology. The name of the blog doesn’t convey that idea, but it helps with my branding to have my name as the title, and it is establishing that my name as an contributor in that field.

Once you have decided on your platform and URL it is time to create your blog.

Continue reading ‘How to Make a Blog in 5 Easy Steps’

How to Write a Blog Post

Published on September 16, 2008 in Blog 101 Book. 0 Comments

The biggest challenge about taking on a blog is filling it with content that is fresh, timely and relevant - on a regular basis. I struggle with it and so do many of my clients. After several lengthy discussions with my fellow bloggers and hours of soul-searching, I’ve got a few ideas to share on how to write a good blog post.

The following are suggestions on how to start and how to continue writing meaningful blog posts that matter to you and your readers. I’ll be posting more advice on this topic in the coming weeks.

1. Care about what you posting

The quickest way to lose interest in your blog is to write about subjects you don’t really care about. I know this may seem over-simplified, but it is very easy to loose sight of why you chose to blog to begin with. Traffic statistics, sales, recognition, competition, conflict…all of these contribute to changes in how and why we write. If you are passionate about your niche or ideas, you will never run out of ideas or the desire to share them.

2. Make lists

A great exercise to get the blogging juices flowing is to make lists. My business partner and I made a list of all the possible types of posts we could write. Here is what we came up with:

Client news and successes with Social Media
Articles regarding Social Media we found compelling, well-written or meaningful to our clients
Social Media Success Stories in the news
Reviews of sites or technology that is useful to our business and clients
Company news

-Events and conferences
-New clients
-New Hires

Make a list of all the reasons you love blogging about your subject, or make a list of all the important dates or events to blog about for the next year. When you are stuck for ideas, pull out your lists and you won’t ever run out of relevant ideas to write about.

3. Just WRITE

There is a wealth of great advice on writing posts for SEO or how to keep your readers engaged. An entire chapter of Blog 101 is devoted to defining all the necessary elements for readable, search-engine friendly posts. There are many components of a GOOD blog post, but they are all useless if you don’t just sit down and write something. Don’t let perfectionism or procrastination get in the way of writing.

Blogs have changed the way we view the written word. Although some argue that it has done more harm than good, it has given us all a platform to express our ideas on a worldwide stage. The only rule is, you have to contribute to be heard. It isn’t about the links or the photos, or even the way your sentences are composed or how often you post. Blogging is about the IDEAS and the voices behind them. WRITE WRITE WRITE!!!

For more information on How to Write a Blog Post, download the ebook Blog 101: The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging and subscribe to the Blog 101 blog.

Blog 101 gets some love from the blogosphere

Published on March 27, 2008 in Blog 101 Book and Blog 101 Mentions. 0 Comments

Blog 101 has been getting some favorable mentions. Granted, some are from dear friends who would support me even if I published a book about paper bags. But it is sure nice to know that a Google search on the book returns such nice remarks.

Check out what these blogs have to say about Blog 101:

Mike McCready

Effie Girlie Finery

Revel Lever

Sink to See

Lobstar

Blogs: Building Community

Published on February 18, 2008 in Blog 101 Book and Community. 0 Comments

As I’ve discussed in Blog 101: Why YOU Need a Blog and How to Make it Successful, the two most important factors to a successful blog are:

1. Building a community

2. Offering them something of value

Both require an understanding of your niche and your audience. It may take some time to discover what you have to offer that is unique and needed. I recommend doing your research, not just assuming you know what people will want from you. To start, ask your customers, your staff and yourself the following types of questions:

- Do our customers ask us for referrals or information that we don’t provide as part of our services?

- Is there information about our industry that we know would help our customers?

- Are there resources our customers find useful that we could easily provide?

There are no hard and fast rules about what you can and cannot offer. Use your imagination. If you have experience in your field, you most likely have an abundance of knowledge that your customers would be grateful to receive.

Below are examples of two blogs and the value they provide to their communities.

Local Choices CV

Local Choices is a community directory and resource for Organic and Natural Farmers in California’s Central Valley. They started the blog as a way to gauge the potential community for a health food store they wanted to open. Shortly after launching the blog they discovered there was not a single directory or resource to help people locate Organic Farmers or Farmers Markets in the area. In fact, most of the public had no idea how many Organic Farmers existed in their own backyard! The health food store has since been put on the back burner and the bloggers are now focused on helping farmers with their outreach through the web. Local Choices has provided a valuable service to farmers and the public in search of healthy alternatives in the Central Valley.

Enlighten Electric

Enlighten Electric is a reliable Los Angeles electrician. He wanted a place for people to find him on the web but couldn’t afford a traditional website, so he launched a blog. After doing some research online, he discovered there was a lack of information available to consumers about how to choose an electrician or how to spot electrical hazards in the home. He also realized that he could use his blog a resource for other skilled tradesmen, as his customers are always asking for referrals. Enlighten Electric is just getting started but is already building community by providing valuable information to people in need of electrical advice and making a name for himself as a trusted resource and probably a darn good electrician.

Author Teleseminars featuring Seth Godin

Published on February 14, 2008 in Author Teleseminars, Blog 101 Book and Recommended Services. 1 Comment

For the last two days I have had my morning tea with marketing guru Seth Godin and fellow marketing authors like Debbie Weil and Keith Ferrazzi. Okay, so it was over the phone, I was muted and part of an audience of 1,800 listeners from around the world. Nonetheless, it was a total thrill to get to listen to some of my current role models live, on speaker phone, in my living room. Their spirited discussions about the future of marketing, community building and proper utilization of social media have been inspiring and thought provoking, to say the least. Many of their ideas are reflected in my book Blog 101: Why YOU Need a Blog and How to Make it Successful.

These amazing calls are free and facilitated by Elizabeth Marshall at Author Teleseminars. I recommend checking out their services or signing up for future teleseminars. Welcome to the age of FREE, grab the information you can and make the most of it!

I also recommend getting a copy of Seth’s new book Meatball Sundae. If you are stuck in traditional marketing and trying to put new marketing on top of it, you will end up with a mess on your hands. Seth’s book will help you navigate your way to a sundae with hot fudge and a cherry on top.